The Midlife Crisis of Seto Kaiba
by Fortune Maiden
Summary: "Ain't 23 kinda young for a midlife crisis?"


**The Midlife Crisis of Seto Kaiba**

_A series of strange projects and worrying headlines sends Yugi and his friends to KaibaCorp with a burning question. _

_"Ain't 23 kinda young for a midlife crisis?_

* * *

**Dragon's Wings Clipped!**

**Neighborhood Association Successfully Subverts Skyscraper Plans**

The _Domino Daily _was never a particularly popular newspaper, but every copy of the afternoon edition sold that day, the hungry public eager for the dessert this feast of a story turned out to be.

The headline admittedly revealed all there was to the story, and there was little of interest to be found in the actual article (certainly not any statements from any self-proclaimed architects), but on that day, Domino City was a sight to behold, with every citizen's nose buried in the paper in shocked fascination. If the paper hadn't been getting a healthy stuffing of material these days, this would have been a newsworthy event on its own.

Domino City was saved. The heroes? The Neighborhood Association. No longer would people need to fear the hideous dragon themed skyscraper local businessman Seto Kaiba planned to adorn the skyline with! No longer would people need to fear _that _being their city's claim to fame! (It may have been known as a forefront of cutting-edge virtual technology thanks to KaibaCorp's main headquarters being housed there, but the company's association with a certain children's card game was embarrassing enough for most members of the general public).

But most importantly, Seto Kaiba had _lost_! The local government had ruled that, no, Seto Kaiba did not, in fact, have permission to construct a 50-story skyscraper, dragon-themed or otherwise. Sure, he could probably keep fighting this, but someone _actually _told Seto Kaiba _"No."_

(The fact that this was not actually what happened had yet to come out and would be treated as a page 6 footnote when it did.)

While the public cheered and celebrations formed in the streets, in a small family-owned game shop, one particular group read the paper with grim uneasiness.

"Should we be worried?" Tristan broke the silence cautiously. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that tower's been shut down but…"

"Too easy?" Téa offered.

"Yeah, it's a little hard to believe that Kaiba will accept this so easily," Yugi added. "He doesn't really take _loss_ well."

"As I recall, he takes 'em with explosions. Hey Téa, your house missile-proof by any chance?" Joey asked.

"Don't even joke about that," Téa snapped, because no, her house, also known as the headquarters of the Neighborhood Association (of which her mother was a proud member of), was not missile-proof, nor did she fully trust Kaiba not to launch one at it.

"I don't think he'd go that far," Yugi chuckled nervously. "But he probably will still want that tower built."

The papers had said it was intended to be KaibaCorp's new headquarters. It made sense, the company was growing rapidly, its current building was bound to run out of space eventually.

"If he wants a tower, he can build it on one of his islands," Tristan retorted. "And then move there and build all the other Blue-Eyes memorabilia he wants."

If it had been just a skyscraper, it would have been one thing. Sure, it would look horribly out of place among Domino City's distinct lack of skyscrapers, but Kaiba had one-upped himself and designed a _Blue-Eyes _skyscraper. The sketches had been published in one of the earliest stories to cover what would turn into the biggest protest movement in Domino City's recent history, and they were every bit as ridiculous as one could imagine.

"I am starting to worry though," Yugi sighed, skimming the article again. "Sure, Kaiba likes the Blue-Eyes and uses it in his Duel Monsters-themed projects, but this seems a bit much, even for him."

"He's finally lost it," Joey agreed, with considerably less concern. "Yesterday a racetrack, today a skyscraper, tomorrow… world domination, probably."

"Pretty sure he's already achieved that. On some level anyway."

The racetrack had at least been minor enough to ignore. It made a few headlines, provided a few conversation starters, but was ultimately forgotten, even by its creator. Domino City's racetrack, commissioned and designed by Seto Kaiba, was little more than a cordoned empty stadium on the city outskirts. It hadn't even had an opening day.

It also hadn't been the first of what was now a series of bizarre projects and _Domino Daily _headlines.

"Maybe we should pay a visit?" Yugi suggested weakly. "Check up on him, you know?"

"Yeah, because he'll gladly hear what we have to say," Tristan rolled his eyes.

"Well, no, but maybe we could at least find out what's up?"

Experience told Yugi that Seto Kaiba and erratic behavior were never a good sign, and if there wasn't anything he could do to help, he at least wanted to know what he was up against this time. If these community projects were going to lead to some ancient evil threatening the fate of the world, he would have liked some time to clear his schedule.

"I agree with Yugi," Joey said. "Much as I hate being anywhere near that guy, someone's gotta make sure he's not plotting some sort of death trap against the good folks of the Neighborhood Association."

"Kaiba wouldn't do that...probably," Téa sighed. "But I'm with you guys. At the rate he's going, next we'll be seeing actual monsters."

* * *

**Solid Vision Solidifies!**

**KaibaCorp's Revolutionary Technology Lives Up To Its Name With First Ever Hologram You Can Touch**

The accompanying photograph featured Kaiba standing atop a Blue-Eyes. Of course.

To the relief of many, the solid Solid Vision holograms could only maintain their corporeal form for about 15 seconds before the injected mass fizzled out (or whatever it was that it did) and the hologram became significantly more see-through than normal. _Domino Daily _also failed to mention that these Massive Visions (as the masses nicknamed them) could only be projected within a certain field, which currently could only be reliably generated on the KC space station.

Somehow, that still didn't reassure Yugi and his friends who stood in KaibaCorp's lobby with pursed lips, as a receptionist who looked a little too relieved to see them called upstairs to announce their arrival.

And if the receptionist was "a little" relieved, Roland was all but crying tears of joy.

"I was beginning to wonder if I should send for you," he explained on the elevator ride up. "These past few months have been…_trying _for Mr. Kaiba."

"They've been trying for all of us!" Joey snapped. "Domino City almost became home of the Blue-Eyes White Skyscraper for crying out loud."

"I…apologize for that," Roland's eyes were covered by sunglasses, but he still averted his gaze as though there was something else he wanted to say, but wasn't sure if he should. He apparently still wanted to say something though, so he added, "But rest assured that those plans have been shelved permanently."

"Because _that's_ comforting right now," Tristan retorted. Yeah, it was a relief to know that, but he was still reeling from the whole "physical hologram" headline. Because Kaiba apparently hadn't had enough mishaps with lifelike virtual reality.

Roland looked even more miserable at the rebuke though, making Tristan backpedal slightly. Sure, none of them really liked the guy all that much. To them, he was forever the man who threatened to disqualify Yugi from a tournament for trying to check on a severely injured and frightened opponent. But he was also one of Kaiba's most loyal employees, and the one who had to deal with that guy and his nonsense on a daily basis. That alone earned him some sympathy.

In the interest of not making Roland actually cry, Yugi changed topics. "So what's Kaiba been up to? He's making headlines almost every day, but they're probably missing a few key details." It would have been nice to know about the special field before they'd all rushed over to the building in a panic.

"It's…hard to explain." Again, Roland was evasive. "But I'm sure he'll feel better talking to his friends."

"We're not friends," Joey pointed out. Tristan nodded emphatically.

"He thinks very highly of you, at any rate." The elevator reached the top floor before any further protests could be raised, and Roland ushered them along to a set of closed doors, outside of which, another relieved employee sat at her desk.

"Mr. Muto, it's good to see you," the secretary stood up and bowed. "Mr. Kaiba can see you now."

"He's expecting us?" Téa asked, surprised.

"No," the secretary replied. "But his schedule is clear for the next hour, so please, go right in."

Roland and the secretary both wore professional smiles, but those smiles were pleading.

_Please, do something! _They begged.

Though they had barged into KaibaCorp with the intention of kicking down the door into Kaiba's office if necessary, Yugi and his friends hesitated. Up until now, their general reactions to Kaiba's antics had been mild amusement that slowly morphed into irritation as the city came to rally against him. But standing outside his office, faced with two desperate employees, all they felt was acute fear. What kind of monster was beyond those doors?

"Anyone else think we should turn tail and run? Like, right now?" Joey whispered. Yugi, Téa and Tristan didn't answer but they all looked at him expectantly. Joey sighed. "Well, if we must."

He approached the door and cleared his throat. "Yo' Moneybags! We need to talk!"

No matter how the following conversation went, he could at least say that kicking down Kaiba's door felt _good_.

Inside, Seto Kaiba sat at his desk with a lone sheet of paper in front of him, twirling a pencil between his fingers.

"The door was open, Wheeler," his tone was icy, but otherwise he made no motion to acknowledge his guests, or more importantly, throw them out.

Kaiba looked…the same as always, really. Yugi hadn't realized it before, but somehow, he wasn't expecting that. It had been a while since he'd met Kaiba in person, and the last time they'd met, Kaiba was his usual arrogant but respectable self. He projected the same aura now. There was none of the angry, stressed, raving eccentric Yugi had built up in his head.

"Hey there, Kaiba," Yugi began awkwardly. "Long time no see?"

"Don't bore me with small talk, Yugi." Kaiba's eyes flashed towards Joey. "I believe the mutt has something he wants to say?"

"You bet I do, Rich Boy!" Joey, who had expected more of a reaction to the door getting kicked open himself, gathered his courage and walked over to the desk. "We're here to tell you enough with the weirdo projects! Domino City ain't your sandbox!" That wasn't really what the plan was, but the words were tumbling out of Joey's mouth before he could stop them, and no one else made a move to step in.

Kaiba smirked. "Really? Is that it? I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised you don't read, but I'm not going to be building anything Wheeler. The skyscraper is no longer necessary."

"Ha. So you suddenly don't need it anymore? Way to act tough after the government suits ruled against you."

"They didn't rule against me."

"River in Egypt, Kaiba. River in Egypt."

"Cute. But I'm not denying anything." He stood up, snatching the paper on his desk and went to his window holding the sheet against the light.

"So what are you saying?" Téa asked. "You just happened to decide at the hearing that you weren't going to build the skyscraper anymore?"

"I'm saying there was no hearing," Kaiba replied. "A deal I was negotiating went through, so the tower is no longer needed."

What did one have to do with the other? Yugi and his friends considered it, but they were clearly missing something important.

"Er, deal?" Yugi asked.

"You'll find out eventually. Let's just say the tower was a little leverage for him to see things my way," Kaiba's smirk turned cruel and sadistic for a moment, but it quickly faded and he waved his hand dismissively. "But enough about that. I know you dweebs didn't come here to bother me something that's already been settled. So spit it out."

Kaiba could see the realization dawning on their faces, the realization that the past few weeks of rallies, protests, community were nothing more than a show in the grand scheme of things and he was eager to change the topic. He had gotten enough lectures from those who knew what he'd been planning, and he was saving his patience for the one tirade he'd yet to receive.

Also, he was rather fond of the skyscraper's design and did not like to hear it disparaged.

"Wait, wait, wait." Unsurprisingly, Joey couldn't take the hint. "Kaiba, you—I mean—_what_?" He sputtered in incoherent rage.

"Yugi, I'm a busy man, so you'd do well not to waste my time any further." Strike 2, Kaiba's eyes warned.

"Er, right," Yugi sighed. "Well, I guess we just wanted to see if everything's okay?"

"_Are _you okay?" Téa pressed, with a certain edge to her voice. The kind of edge that considered anyone who found amusement in rallying an entire city against him had to have a few screws loose.

Kaiba didn't miss the implication.

"Last I checked, I was fine."

"Yeah? When was that?" Joey asked.

"Your employees were crying tears of joy when they saw us, you know," Tristan added.

"If you're planning something…" Téa warned.

"What my friends mean is, the stuff that's been going on for the past few months just seems very unlike you," Yugi explained. "You're not really the type to make headlines daily with these kinds of random projects." He was more the type to hole himself up in an undisclosed location for months at a time, and then make a grand unveiling of some new revolutionary invention people could talk about for months and use in their daily lives for years.

Yugi didn't want to say it to Kaiba's face, but those unveilings tended to be pretty awesome.

"Oh? My new solid holograms seem unlike me?" Kaiba asked testily.

"When they can only last 15 seconds and only in space, yeah, kinda," Yugi continued. "The Seto Kaiba I know would have organized a huge duel tournament and only revealed them after they'd been perfected."

"Hm. As expected of a duelist I acknowledge," Kaiba's smirk disappeared, but what replaced it was an oddly distant look. "The solid holograms leak was more to placate investors for a while. I'll bump them up to a minute later and can perfect them any time I wish. There's just no reason to do so right now."

That wasn't comforting. Kaiba had enough power without the ability to control actual monsters as it was.

"Why the heck would you even invent something like that?" Joey asked.

"To make the game more exciting, of course," he replied, albeit without any excitement in his voice. Joey didn't hesitate to point that out.

"Dueling with lifelike holograms. Dueling on the go. It's fine for a little while, but then it gets boring. At the end of the day, there's not enough adrenaline."

Yugi and Joey disagreed. The game still made their hearts race whenever they played.

"So what you want to duel while riding Blue-Eyes next?" Téa asked.

"Perhaps. I haven't decided yet."

"_You _haven't decided whether or not to be able to ride your beloved dragon?" Tristan was incredulous.

"It'd be one thing if it was a real Blue-Eyes, but a virtual construct is still a fake no matter how perfectly you render it. It's boring." Kaiba had his opinions on virtual reality and regular reality. It was obvious which one he preferred, but he wasn't in the mood to debate it with these people.

"Boring," Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Boring," Kaiba repeated. "It's not the excitement I'm looking for at all." His expression contorted into rage and he suddenly crushed the paper he'd been holding. "Nothing I come up with comes close to bringing back my passion."

"So then, the whole reason you've been acting like this is because of… creator's block?"

"The reason I've been acting like "this" is that a few months ago, I realized I have _nothing_."

Yugi, Joey, Téa and Tristan stared, confused. Joey took a look around the fancy top-floor office for good measure.

"Er, come again?"

Kaiba sighed and reclaimed his seat, his face carefully blank again. "Let me break this down for you in words you can understand. Today, at this very moment, where are you in life? What have you accomplished?"

Rather than giving them a chance to think about it and answer, he continued.

"Taylor, you've accepted your role as a cog in the machine and are working at your father's factory. In a few years your position will grow and if you're smart you're using this time to study business so you can actually make something of yourself as you take over."

Tristan was not smart, and he definitely did not want to hear life advice from Kaiba. He frowned.

"Gardner, you studied dance. You got a small role in a local production. Your first one. Congrats. You won't be where you are now forever."

"Uh, thanks?" Téa didn't know how to feel about Kaiba knowing about her recent casting, but his biting tone told her he didn't expect her career to progress in a positive direction. She frowned.

"Wheeler…eh."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, you jerk!" Joey frowned.

"And Yugi. You've taken over your grandpa's shop. You've begun designing your own games. Some of them are even passable."

That was as high a praise as Kaiba could give, but his tone and seething glare told Yugi there was something he found particularly unsatisfying about this and waited for the other shoe to drop.

Strangely, it never did. He frowned.

"And there you go. You dweebs don't have much but you have something. Even Wheeler. Me? Nothing."

The four friends moved closer together, careful not to take their eyes off Kaiba, who fully seemed to believe what he was saying.

"Nothing besides oodles of cash and power, right?" Joey whispered.

"Anyone else getting the urge to punch him?" Téa grumbled, rubbing at her wrist, which was connected to a newly formed fist.

"I think he means it in a more spiritual way," Yugi offered weakly. "He doesn't consider us his friends, so he doesn't have anyone to really talk to."

"I can still hear you, you know. And I'm not looking for _friendship_," Kaiba snapped. "I'm looking for a purpose. I mean, let's face the facts. I'm president of a multi-billion-dollar gaming company. I've revolutionized dueling and holography in general twice over. I've opened my sixth amusement park last May. I raised a great kid and sent him off to college... What am I supposed to do now?"

"Yeah, okay, I think I want one punch too," Yugi muttered. "Wait, what was that last one?"

"Mokuba's in London now, right?" Téa glanced at Kaiba.

"Cambridge. He's doing well."

The kind of pride one might have expected from that remark, sounded more like bitterness. The pieces clicked.

"Guys," Tristan whispered. "I think I know what's happening here. My uncle went through something similar a while back. It's a midlife crisis."

"What "midlife"?" Joey hissed. "He's the same age as us! Ain't 23 kinda young for a midlife crisis?"

"Guys like him are at least twice as old mentally. Besides what else do you call him pouring money into ridiculous projects in pursuit of…something?"

"Loneliness?" Yugi offered.

"Boredom?" Téa suggested.

"Compensation." Joey decided.

Whatever they called it though, it was clear to them that all of this was apparently Kaiba coping with his little brother's absence. Badly.

It made sense, in a way. Yugi and his friends didn't know too much about Kaiba's personal life beyond what Mokuba had told them and what they'd witnessed in the Virtual World. But they did know how close the brothers were, and just how much Mokuba loved and looked up to his brother as both a sibling and a parent. And he had always been there at his brother's side on every opening day and press conference. But now he was an adult and abroad. Time had passed.

Yugi and his friends couldn't pretend to understand Kaiba's feelings, but they had felt a certain wistfulness and "now what?" when the Pharaoh left and then again when they'd graduated and went their separate ways. They may have been reunited now but the time they could spend as a group was significantly less than when they'd been in school. But they accepted it and found new ways to make it all work.

But in their experience, Kaiba was not quite as good as that.

To be more accurate, he was someone who didn't cope and didn't let anyone forget it.

"A midlife crisis," Kaiba said amused, but he didn't refute it. "Hmm, interesting. And?"

"And what?" Trsitan asked.

"And what do you propose I do? You _did _come here to help, didn't you?"

Did they? They had expected to be thrown out of the building after saying their piece. Kaiba must have been worse off than they thought.

Did they want to help? Not really. They knew Kaiba and they knew he wouldn't listen to them. Humoring them was just something to amuse himself with, and he would be quick to verbally cut down all of their suggestions.

But they did want to stop the community projects. Especially now that they knew this was all an attempt to stave off boredom and find some new purpose in life. The Blue-Eyes Skyscraper convinced them all that Seto Kaiba finding his calling in architecture was the last thing anyone needed.

"Have you considered…" Téa began, trying to think about what normal people their age did. Kaiba wasn't normal, but maybe this was his chance to actually try it out. "Marriage." It was a good suggestion, she thought, ignoring Joey and Tristan's horrified expression and Yugi's deep blush.

"No." Kaiba replied immediately.

"Well there you go. Consider marriage."

"No."

Joey and Tristan were relieved. This was not a topic they wanted to discuss with Kaiba, let alone picture him walking down the aisle with some poor girl who did not what hell she was getting into.

"Well," Tristan cut in, trying to recall what his Uncle did during his crisis. "You know most people in your position just buy a fancy sports car. Or a motorbike."

"I have several of those already."

Of course he did.

"And a personal racetrack to go with it." Joey reminded him.

Of course he—

"What racetrack?" Kaiba said, genuinely off guard.

Which, naturally, caught everyone else off guard.

"Uh, the one you built on the outskirts of the city before the whole business with the skyscraper?" Joey reminded him.

"Made headlines?" Tristan added. "_Domino Daily _had a special?"

"Never read it," Kaiba said, but immediately got on his computer and went to the newspaper's website to skim its archives. Sure enough, every one of his projects made the front page. Repeatedly. Domino City must not have had much else to write about.

"Did you seriously forget?" Téa asked.

"I've built a lot of things in the past few months. Museums, gardens, space centers. A racetrack seems so pointless."

"Don't say it," Yugi quickly cut Joey off before he could say exactly what he thought about Kaiba's other projects. "But, yeah, there you go. You have a personal racetrack."

"Interesting," Kaiba's attention was still on the computer, the various headlines seemed to amuse him more than anything Yugi and his friends were saying. He ignored them for a while, brow furrowed deep in thought. _Domino Daily _seemed to get a lot of details wrong.

"So…now what?" Joey asked.

"Are you thinking of taking one of your fancy sports cars or bikes out for a spin?" Tristan asked. Him being interested in the racetrack was a good thing, right? He was looking for excitement, right? Him becoming a normal adrenaline junkie would save Domino City, right?

"You said you were looking for some way to spice up Duel Monsters again, right?" Tristan continued. "Maybe you just need to speed things up. A motorbike might be just what you need to get into that mindset."

"Hm. Noted."

* * *

**Seto Kaiba Hospitalized!**

**23-Year-Old CEO Crashes Motorcycle On Personal Racetrack**

As far as Yugi and his friends were concerned, the real headline should have been "23-Year-Old CEO Totals Motorbike in Fiery Wreck and Walks Away with Sprained Wrist." Somehow that seemed catchier. Although even calling the injury a sprain was an exaggeration. It was more of a large angry bruise.

They figured Roland just seized the chance to finally get Kaiba's head checked.

"Someone really should do something about this newspaper," Kaiba remarked. "Fact checking really does seem to be a foreign concept to them."

The _Domino Daily _lay spread out over the tray table in front of him. As expected, he wasn't lying on the hospital bed, but rather sitting on the edge with the table positioned to rest his bruised hand and the icepack underneath it.

"This is going to make the investors jumpy," he lamented dryly and quickly folded up the paper with his good hand.

"Yeah…the investors," Joey repeated dumbly.

"I'm surprised they haven't jumped ship altogether yet," Tristan muttered.

"Yaknow, I think I'm starting to understand how the Big 5 felt," Téa groaned.

"Er, we're glad to see you're okay, Kaiba," Yugi said politely, though he made no effort to hide his exasperation either. "What, uh, happened anyway?"

"Lost control. Jumped off before the crash. Fumbled the landing. Wrist hit the ground." His tone remained impassive describing his own ordeal, but afterwards his expression soured. "I lost a card to the flames."

And here they'd been hoping the _Domino Daily _made _that_ part up. An awkward silence descended upon the room.

"How tragic," Téa broke it. "Is that really all you have to say? You could have lost a whole lot more in that crash!"

"It was a good card," Kaiba replied with an uncaring shrug and looked towards the window. If there was any remorse or sheepishness about what he'd done, it didn't show. All Yugi and his friends could see was the face of someone who's mental gears were still turning and who was definitely liable to crash another bike in the near future.

"You're not seriously still thinking about this?" Tristan snapped. "Look, when I said you could spice up the game by speeding things up, I didn't mean you should _play while riding!_"

"Yes, yes your pathetic suggestion was duly noted, and don't worry, I don't blame you for any of this." Kaiba retorted with a smirk.

"Good because this one's all you, Kaiba."

"Who the hell tries to play Duel Monsters on a motorbike?" Joey finally snapped. "You're lucky you were the only one on that damn private track of yours!"

"Careful, Wheeler. You almost sound like you care."

"I do care you twisted, arrogant son of a—

Joey's tirade about the potential property damage and civilian casualties if he'd done this elsewhere or if anyone tried to imitate him (the things he actually cared about; things that did not include Seto Kaiba) was cut off with a sudden jingle. All eyes turned to Téa, who quickly dug into her bag to pull out her phone. At that moment, Kaiba's eyes widened and his uncaring grin immediately vanished.

"Wait, don't answer th—

"Hello?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" The person on the other end yelled out, loud enough for the entire hospital room to hear. Startled, Téa almost dropped the phone, while Yugi, Joey and Tristan jumped back wide eyed. Kaiba just pinched the bridge off his nose and sighed heavily.

It took a moment for Téa to connect the voice to a face and a quick glance at the long phone number on the phone's screen quickly confirmed her suspicion.

"Mokuba? Is that you?"

"I know my brother's there. Put him on."

Well Téa was certainly not one to argue with that tone. She simply walked up to Kaiba and dangled her phone in front of his face. "It's for you."

Reluctantly, Kaiba took it, holding the phone some distance from his ear though. The others hovered nearby, _very_ eager to hear this.

"Mokuba."

"Seto, what happened?" Mokuba's voice was still loud enough to be overheard, but the previous outburst of rage had disappeared, replaced by a more controlled fury. "You crashed a motorcycle?"

Yugi would have wondered how Mokuba knew to call Téa, but then he remembered that his duel disk was in his backpack, and Mokuba had access to KaibaCorp's satellites.

"Yeah," Kaiba answered somewhat hesitantly. "Must have been a faulty model. Don't worry, the manufacturer will be hearing from me later."

_Oh? _Yugi and his friends exchanged knowing looks, as Kaiba's eyes narrowed into a glare. He motioned to the door, but no one budged.

"Uh-huh," Mokuba was unconvinced. "And the damages?"

"Just a small sprain. I'll be out of here in a couple of hours." Really, the whole hospital trip had been entirely unnecessary.

"They examined you super thoroughly right?"

"Of course."

"Including an MRI?"

"Yes."

"Good. Fax me the results because I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD!" Again, the volume had gone up and even Kaiba couldn't hide his twitch. And this was why his phone was safely turned off and in Roland's possession.

"Mokuba—

"Don't "Mokuba" me. I've heard all about your various projects. A Blue-Eyes White Dragon _skyscraper, _Seto? _Really_?"

"Oh like you don't know what that was about."

"I know you didn't have to take an entire city hostage for it!" Yep. There was that final lecture he knew he'd have to hear eventually. Mokuba was at least lucky he was in a reasonably good mood.

"I knew it," Joey muttered. "He really did do it for shits and giggles."

"Typical."

"Hey peanut gallery," Kaiba snapped. "Shut up and get out."

"I think you mean "or" Rich Boy."

"If I meant "or", I would have said "or", Wheeler. Out."

"Kaiba, you should really listen to your brother," Téa said, disapproval evident in her voice.

"Mokuba's worried about you too, you know." Yugi added reproachfully.

Ignoring them, Kaiba turned back to his call, "See Mokuba? This is what happens when you call up the dweebs. We have an audience."

"Is that so?" Mokuba replied coolly. "Well this is what happens when the only family I have ends up in the hospital and _turns off his phone_. Seto, I can't…I can't do this anymore. I'm coming home."

"No." Kaiba said immediately, the guilt over purposely ignoring his brother threatening to surface. "Mokuba, you…hold on a sec." Kaiba lowered the phone and looked each of Yugi and his friends in the eye. "Out."

They'd all heard Mokuba's last comment, even though his voice had finally lowered to an acceptable volume. It didn't sound like that was first time he'd wanted to come back, and Kaiba's response was not that of someone who wanted to keep his saner half as far away as possible.

This was something private. As fun as it was to listen in on Mokuba yelling at his big bro, they needed to leave.

Of course, it was immediately obvious that their ears were pressed to the door outside, but Kaiba's VIP room was soundproof. They'd figure it out eventually.

"You're not leaving," he said into the phone as soon as the nuisances were gone. "You've earned this."

"I can just go to a local college. It's not like I'll need to impress employers with a fancy degree."

"This isn't up for discussion." Kaiba lifted his injured hand and turned his wrist slowly to check for damages. "I'll do a better job of answering my phone."

"This isn't about that and you know it," Mokuba's voice fell. "Seto, I miss you."

"I know."

"I hate being so far apart from you."

"I know."

"Then _why _can't I come back?"

"Because, you worked hard for this, and you're not a quitter."

Kaiba had been against sending Mokuba abroad from the beginning. College for him was just a formality and they had plenty of good enough schools that weren't an ocean away. But Mokuba had begged and studied hard, and his efforts paid off when he received the large envelope from Cambridge.

Mokuba didn't have a proper childhood. He deserved to have a proper college experience then (even if he would still be helping out in some company matters), Kaiba decided, and finally relented.

But the separation _hurt_.

"I didn't go to college Mokuba," Kaiba said despite that. "You picked a school worthy of both of us. So you need to finish it for my sake too."

"Not that speech again," Mokuba groaned. "How am I supposed to focus on my studies when my only brother's trying to get himself killed?"

"Please, there was no danger to me at any point—

"You don't know that," Mokuba snapped. "And I've been reading the _Domino Daily _here too. Seto, why do you keep doing all these weird things?"

They weren't weird, Kaiba thought irritably, but rather than contesting that point, he sighed. There was no point hiding it. "Because I miss you too," he admitted, because, after everything, Mokuba was the one person he couldn't lie to.

"Seto…"

"_But,_ this is _my_ problem to deal with," Kaiba continued immediately, back to his usual arrogant tone. "You need to live your life how you want to." But to placate Mokuba, just a little, he added, "I'll shelve the racing duel idea for now." He didn't like the risk it posed to his cards, anyway.

"Good," Mokuba's voice was firm. "I'll be watching the headlines, and don't even think of buying out that tabloid to keep me from finding out. I have my ways."

"Yeah, yeah." One of these days, Kaiba would need to have a nice talk with Roland about that.

"If you really need something to do, maybe you should consider going to college too," Mokuba suggested. "It's fun."

"School is not fun," Kaiba scoffed in response. "And there's nothing that school can teach me that I don't already know."

"Yeah, I suppose," Mokuba chuckled. "It's not like they teach classes in Duel Monsters."

"I resent the insinuation that someone out there can teach _me _Duel Monsters."

"Love you too, Seto," he laughed. "But seriously, thanks. I needed to hear your voice."

"Mhm."

"Just please answer your own phone next time," Mokuba said. "Tell Téa I said thanks."

"No."

"Bye Seto. Love you."

"Yeah, love you too," Kaiba said, and clicked off the phone. He supposed he should have gotten up and told the dweebs he was done and returned the phone, but he decided he could do that later.

Classes that taught Duel Monsters. Now _there _was an idea!

* * *

**Dragon Soars Again!**

**Seto Kaiba Announces Duel Academy**

* * *

(_At least it was on a private island this time_, they decided.)

**AN: **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

I...actually had quite a few laughs when I completely accidentally discovered this fic on my google drive when I unknowingly opened a different folder than the one I usually use, and lo and behold it was almost completely finished. I don't know why past me gave up so close to the end, so I finished it.

I don't even remember when I started this fic! But probably it predated Vrains...always nice to finish a wip though!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed, and feedback is always really appreciated!


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